1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network computing and, more specifically, to the transmission and operation of software distributed across computer networks. Still more specifically, the present invention includes a method, apparatus, and software for dynamically modifying computer interfaces so that users can access and operate software distributed across a computer network.
2. The Relevant Art
Prior to the rise of the personal computer, computer users were limited to operating software that ran on large, mainframe computers using terminals that typically included a keyboard for entering data and commands and a video display device (or printer) for viewing output. Although mainframes provided very powerful computing platforms, they suffered from serious drawbacks. In particular mainframes were expensive to install and operate and they required all users to be connected directly to the mainframe through a terminal, which limited access to the mainframe for many people. In addition, users had very limited control over their computing environments, usually having to adapt their work styles and problems to suit the software and administration of the mainframe computer.
Beginning in the late 1970's personal computers began to overtake mainframes as the dominant computing platform for both personal, business, and scientific uses. For single users, personal computers often could provide the same computing speed as the older mainframes that had to accommodate many processing jobs simultaneously. In addition software that ran on the personal computers became more "user-friendly", allowing computer users to adapt both the computer and the software to suit their particular computation needs. The release from requiring a connection from a terminal to a mainframe allowed personal computers to be located just about anywhere within an organization or at home. This capability further assured the dominance of the personal computer over the mainframe as computing power could be located at sites where it was needed. No longer did users have to tailor their operations around large, expensive, finicky mainframe computing centers.
As the computing power and data storage capacities of personal computers exploded throughout the 1980's the dominance of the personal computer seemed to be assured. As the 1980's drew to a close, however, a new phenomenon began to emerge which appears likely to overtake the personal computer revolution of the past two decades. Today, ever increasing numbers of personal computers are linked to each other through high speed data networks. The most popular network currently is the "Internet"--the network comprising various business, academic, and personal computer sites across the globe. The popularity of the Internet, and, more particularly, that aspect of the Internet referred to as the "World Wide Web", has prompted many organizations to form internal computer networks--the so-called "intranets". This interest in network computing has been sparked by a combination of high speed data networks and increasingly sophisticated network servers, routers and other devices which allow many independent personal computers to communicate efficiently.
The attractiveness of the World Wide Web stems in part from its highly visual character, the same factor that played a large role in the rise of the personal computer and its dominance over the mainframe. Typically, the World Wide Web is organized into various "web sites" which typically comprise a server that transmits data to a client computer running a "browser". The browser is software that provides the user with a window and various controls through which data from the server can be viewed and navigated. A particularly useful feature of World Wide Web data is its ability to be linked through hypertext commands so that users can quickly navigate from one document to another and even from one web site to another through very simple intuitive commands such as the activation of a mouse button. Using the World Wide Web, users can view text, graphics and hear sounds from sites all over the globe. In addition users can also download new software, or software capable of modifying programs already installed on the client computers. These same features available to users of the World Wide Web on the Internet can also be provided to users of a local network through an intranet. This capability has received increasing attention from many organizations as information useful to employees carrying out their assignments can be distributed quickly throughout the network to personal computers within the organization.
However, the use of modern networks for such a widespread distribution of information and software points to a drawback regarding the highly decentralized nature of personal computers. Because users have so much control over their computing environments, and because of the need to maintain individual copies of software packages on individual computers, the management of computer networks is becoming increasingly difficult. With so many remote computers connected to each other over computer networks, administrators are finding it difficult to insure that each user has a computer system that is configured to operate reliably and efficiently. Particular problems include the maintenance of current software revisions, modifications made to the operating system and software by the users, the installation of extraneous software on the local computer which is not required for performing the central tasks of the user, and the need to buy multiple copies of a single software package even if that package is used only sparingly. More important is the need to support software that runs on different computer platforms, such as UNIX, Macintosh, and Windows, as several platforms are often used in organizations to perform different functions. For example, an organization might use Windows-based computers for running accounting software, Macintosh computers for graphics and design, and UNIX systems for network administration and high-end computation applications such as scientific or engineering calculations, or computer-aided design ("CAD") or computer-aided engineering ("CAE") functions. This forces organizations to purchase multiple copies of the same software application to accommodate those uses that are common to all platforms (e.g., word-processing or database access).
Thus, it would be of great benefit to computer users, and especially computer users within organizations in which multiple computer users are connected through a computer network, to provide methods and systems for disseminating both information and software over the network so that the above-described problems associated with highly decentralized computer networks can be mitigated. As will be described here and below, the present invention meets these and other needs.